My day in cups of tea

WE ASKED LAKE DISTRICT BAKER LISA SMITH TO DESCRIBE HER DAY IN CUPPAS

Good morning. Too early for a cuppa?

Never! The very first thing I do is go downstairs and put the kettle on. Sometimes, if I’m lucky and my husband is up before me, I get a cup brought to me in bed – heaven!

A smashing start to the day. What’s next?

I’ll make sure everyone is up. I have two children – both with fabulous red hair, hence Ginger Bakers. Then it’s off to the bakery. I started the business from my kitchen 12 years ago, but we’re now in a purpose-built bakery outside Kendal, where we look out onto hills filled with sheep. The working day starts at 8am, and soon after we all arrive the kettle goes on for morning coffee.

And what goes on at the bakery?

I’m mainly office based these days, and mornings flow into afternoons unnoticed. What does define an afternoon is our routine of a cup of tea at 2.15pm – one of our team can’t function without one. We also need a cup of tea to go with our cake testing – it’s a tough job!

How do you take your tea?

We all have our preferences here. There’s often an array of shades. We could create our own tea colour chart! I’m in the middle somewhere.

When do you finish for the day?

It’s usually determined by end-of-day deliveries. With a fantastic team working in the bakery, I’m no longer spending late nights with the mixer.

Now that you’re no longer hanging out with the mixer, what do you do in your spare time?

A friend and I challenged ourselves to swim all the lakes and tarns in the Lake District without wetsuits. But earlier this year I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I’m now undergoing chemotherapy, which has prevented me swimming. But I’ll be celebrating treatment finishing with a lake swim – I can’t wait!